Seychelles Insights – Sailing Stuff

Passages – Since we sailed in the summer, the trade winds blew steady out of the southeast every afternoon between 15-20 knots. The 25 mile passages between Mahe and the northern islands made for some wonderful sailing. Distances in the northern chain of islands were short, but, made for some pleasant short sails. Though some prudence is needed to avoid navigation hazards, generally, navigation was straight forward.

Anchorages – The marine parks always had mooring balls for a $15 fee per night. Petit Cour on Praslin and Il Moyenne in the St. Anne Marine Park off of Mahe’ were quite bouncy. Beau Vallon Beach and Bay Ternay were extremely windy, but, the holding was excellent. Lastly, the bay at Anse Lazio lives up to the hype of being perhaps the most beautiful bay in the world.

Snorkeling – Some of the best snorkeling I’ve done was around Ille. St. Pierre (large fish) and Ille Coco (like being in an aquarium) though there were some strong currents for our afternoon snorkel. Also, Baie Ternay had wonderful coral formations and lots of fish.

Land Excursions – The following are a must: bird sanctuary on Ille. Cousine, hike over rock formation and mangrove to giant tortoise colony on Ille. Curieuse, hike the Coco du Mer National Park on Praslin, and perhaps the best is a day of bike riding on La Digue to visit Anse Union and Source D’Argent as well as crossing the island to Anse Grande.

Notes:

In marine parks, in addition to the charge for mooring, there is a daily fee for each person aboard the vessel.